Garbage disposal unit



July 21, 1953 Filed March 22, 1946 M. J- GREEN GARBAGE DISPOSAL UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 21, 1953 GREEN 2,646,222

GARBAGE DISPOSAL UNIT Filed March 22, 1946 2 SheetS Sheet 2 Patented July 21, 1953 V UNITED sTArEJs rare-NT OFFICE GARBAGE nIs'PosAI; UNIT Martin-T11 Green, Chicago, 111'. Application MarchZZ, 1946,.SerialNo..656;459

10 Claims. 1

This. invention; relates in. general to' garbage" disposal. units; and more particularly to an improved; unit for rapidly disposing, of all normal table waste.v r A principal object of the invention: is theeprovisionzof agarbage disposal unit which is of such. size and, weight as to be readily supported from the ordinary kitchen sink and connectible to thestandard drain pipe-normally extending from thelatter... V V

The unit: of the present invention is therefore:

easy and simple to'insta-ll on any standard sink,

and completely eliminates, one objectionable fea ture of some prior devices: of generally similar function by obviating. the rather extensiveplumbingc alterations necessitated in. the. installation of'sucl'rpriordevices; I

Another important. objectrofthe instant invention is. the-provision of. a disposal unit employing a plurality of; sawing. elements so: arranged as to be capable of. reducing any solid: waste intro.*

duced' thereto into mii iute particles adapted to be flushed through. the sink drain pipe.

' A further important object of the invention is to provide a rapi'dly'rotating. saw carrying memher in. such" a'unit which, .throughthe centrifugal forc'e'resulting from itsrotation, causes any waste materia l introduced thereto to be carried into contact with a stationary baiflememberwhereit is presented to the saw elements of the rotating member for cuttingitherebyr.

Anotherobject. of." the, invention. is the: forma tion of such a rotating member with. a plurality of saw elements set: therein on. different chords ofi'a circledescri'bed byrotation of said member F and spaced fromv each. other in a. direction normal to the plane of such circle, and theaprovisi'on ofa stationary bafilc member disposed'intieriorly of said} saw elements and: having slots. through whichthe saw elementsv pass and shapedwith a downwardly decreasing horizontal cross sectional area, whereby at a given speed ofv rotation the maximum: cutting action is obtained on the different types of'solid waste material introduced thereto. I

; Another important object of'the invention is.

the provision of a garbage disposaljunit employ ing rotary means-for feeding-solid waste material to-a rotating conveyor which in turn delivers the solid waste material to a commi nutorhaving a plurality of cutting. elements spaced in a direction unit below the usual drainopening inasink so it.

may receive watertherethroughfrom. the tape orv oth'eriwater, supplywith which the sink. is, nor.

mally furnished, such water functioning in. its.

resultingswirling action toassist in carrying. the waste solids into; position to be acted upon by the; comminutor. and. alsoto. flush away the, re,- sulting comminutedparticles.

Another important object of; the invention is, the provision in-theabottom. of the rotating. member of such a-unit. of aseriesrof small discharge apertures so. spaced: from the center. of. rotation disposal unit embodying. the features. of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken substan tially on-thelineZ-JoiE-ig. 1;

Fig, 3 is a top plan view, with parts broken a-way',, o the:deviceof.F'-ig-.1-.; 7 i

Fig. 4. is an elevational. viewof the cover and unit supportingportion ofthe-deviceg' I Fig: 5 is an elevation of. thev baffle member as. i

seen. from the side thereof which the saw ele ments. approachin their-cutting action; and:

Fig. 6 is. a -detailed horizontalvi'ew illustrating:

the: mounting: of, one, of the saw elements.

Referring more particularlyto the: drawings,

reierencenumeral l:l; indicatesa. garbage disposal unit comprising: a: main casing 12 whichhouses parallel to the :ai-isof rotation of the conveyor,

tremely rapidly accomplished.

I A 'furtheriilnportant object is to" mount itcha whereby the desired commi'nuting action is'exa. rotatabl'essaw'carryingmember: l3 and has; an electric: motor depending. therefrom: and secured thereto. in any desired manner, as by means of straps or' brackets 15. Atsone. side, the main casing: [2''- is provided withan. outlet at its lower end? in the form of. ani-pple" l6 connected in-turn by a union. 'l'i'l' to the: standard. drain or soil pipe it normally provided with: any sink.

Secured to the-open upper'endiof the main. casing I 2 byr'me'ans; of. screws; is, or the like,, is a flanged covermember 21 having threadedv en.- g-agement." at. itslipper, ndiwith a fiangedfsupporting member: '22.. "The? latter. adapted. to"

tion from, the sink 23. The supporting member 22 thus takes the place of the usual apertured drain plate of the sink, and, together withthe cover 2! provides an inlet opening to the interior of the disposal unit.

Secured to the horizontal flanged portion of w the cover 2!, as by means of screws 26, is a sta tionary baffie member, indicated generally by f reference numeral 27, which comp-rises an upper flangeor plate portion 28 with which the screws 26 engage. This bafiie member 21' is shown in greater detail in Fig. 5, and includes a main body portion 29 preferably formed integrally with and depending from the flange Z8. Along its outer edge, the main body 29 of the baiiie member 2'! is provided with a plurality of horizontally disposed, saw-receiving grooves 3i spaced vertically fro-m each other for a purpose later to be described. As is best illustrated in Fig. 5, this main body portion 29 decreases in horizontal cross sectional area in a downward direction to provide a downwardly decreasing object-detaining face portion 32.

The shaft 33 of the motor M extends upwardly into the interior of the main casing 12 through a lower bushing 34 which is secured to the casing l2 by bolts 35, a packing gland 36, packing 31, and an upper flanged bushing 38 having a finished upper bearing surface. The upper end of the shaft 33 is secured, as by means of a key 39, to the bottom of a cup shaped outer casing 4! of the rotatable saw .carrying member [3. The annular side wall of the cylindrical member ll is imperforate, but the lower portion of this casing M is provided with a plurality of peripherally spaced outlet apertures 42. Secured to the casing 4!, as by means of a plurality of elongated bolts 43, and disposed in vertically stacked relationship therein are a plurality of annular rings 44 which are formed with cut-out portions 45 in their horizontal surfaces so arranged as to receive comminutor or saw elements 48 which areretained therein by certain of the bolts 43 extending therethrough. These saw elements 46 are thus spaced vertically from each other or in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the comminutor by the collars or rings 44%, and the cutout portions 45 in adjacent'rings are so arranged as to stagger the saw'elements 4G spirallyaround the inner periphery of the'rotatable member [3. As best seen in Fig. 2, each of the saw elements or comminuting members 46 extends inwardly the same radial distance from the annular side wall of the cylidrical member 4|.

As shown in Fig. 1, a bottom plate 41 is held in the casing M between the lowermost. ring 44 and an inner flanged portion of the casing by the bolts 43, The plate 41 is provided with a plurality of small discharge apertures 48 spaced around concentric circles in predetermined, distances from the center of the plate for a purpose to be later described. The lower, end of the casing. 4| isprovided with a,- boss 49 having a lower finished bearing surface which rests upon the. upper finished bearing surface of the bushing 38. The hollow cylindrical or saw carrying member i3 is thus mounted for rapid rotation by the motor I4, preferably at a speed of approximately 1750 revolutions per minute. For this purpose, the motor i l need only be of horsepower rating. Since the unit as a whole is of relatively small size, the inlet aperture through the supporting member 212 preferably being approximately two inches in diameter and the vertical interior dimension of the saw carrying member l3 preferably being approximately three inches; the entire device is readily supportable by any standard sink. The outlet nipple IE is disposed at a relatively short distance from hthe bottomv of the sink 23 when the unit is mounted thereon, so that there is no necessity for any extensive plumbing alterations in the installation of the device, as is the case in installing prior devices of generally similar function.

In its operation, any normal table waste is merely introduced into the unit through the aperture in the supporting member 22 and the mo tor i4 energized. Any liquid introduced to the interior of the hollow cylindrical or saw carrying member l3 will flow through the outlet apertures 48 and 42 into the discharge nipple l5 and to the standard drain or soil pipe i8. Solid waste matter must first be comminuted to enable it to be flushed through the discharge apertures t6. This function is performed by the comminutor comprising the cylindrical wall formed by the casing '45 and rings 44, the cutting or saw i 32 of the stationary baflle member 27, where it will be temporarily retained for successive comminuting or sawing actions by the several saw elements 4-5. The bottom plate 4'! thus comprises means for receiving garbage-to be dis posed of and for delivering the same to the comminutor. The object-detaining face 32 of the stationary member 2'! is not intended to retain solid objects for continuous sawing by the saw elements, since such action would not best accomplish a complete reduction of the solid material. Consequently, the bafiie member 2! is shaped as best illustrated in Fig. 5 and as previously described, so that any solid waste material directed thereagainst by rotation of the member l3 will tend to move downwardly along the object-detaining face 32 as successive saw elements 45 cut away portions thereof. During normal operation, where a number of pieces of solid waste material are introduced simultaneously into the unit, successive pieces will tend to move those first engaged by the stationary member 27 away from the object detaining face 32 thereof, but such action is in no way objectionable since it will merely result in the different pieces of solid waste material having suc- V oessive increments of comminuting actions applied thereto. The grooves 3! are so spaced as to pe mit respective passage therethrough of the insures this result.

several saw elements 46 and, together with pitch of the teeth of the saw elements'det'ermining the baffle member 21- extends. downwardly into terial from which they have beentcut, will be floated to the inner surface of. the water or other liquid and be flushed thereby through the outlet apertures 48' which, comprisev disposal means formed in the bottom plate 41.

With a device of a size of that above described I and illustrated herein and a speed of rotation of the member I3 of approximately 1750 revolutions per minute, the apertures 48 are made approxi-: mately /8 of an inch in diameter, which means that no solid material is discharged from the almost contacting relationship with the. bottom plate 41, as shown in Fig.1.. In... order .to further assure complete reduction of the solid waste material into particles. of the. desired size, the main body portion '29 of thebafile member 21 is preferably provided with a vertical: v-shaped relief slot 5!, asshown .iIl'Fig. 2. The slot 5| results in additional comminuting action. which The smaller the angle between the object-detaining surface 32. of the stationary member 21 and the inner surface of the. rings 44, the faster will bev the cutting or sawing action on solid material. Conversely, increasing this. angle would decrease the cutting action until a point would be reached where no cutting action could take place, the surface 32 then merely rejecting or imparting an inward or glancing blow to any object, presented to it. As shown in Fig 2., this surface 32, in the horizontal plane of each of the saw elements 4.6, is described by an arc of a circle of one half the diameter of that of the inner surface ofthe rings 44 and havin its center in each such horizontal plane on. the line normal tov the cutting edge. of. the associated saw element from that point of the saw element first entering the vertical plane. of the surface 32, which results in a fast sawing action. At the same time, this surface .32 is so shaped that any extremely hard object such as one-of metal; which might accidentally be deposited in the unit and which has a sufficiently large diameter or a horizontal dimension as normally" to offer too great a resistance to thecutting. action .of'the saw elements will, by virtue of its size; and the inwardly directedforce imparted thereto by a saw element because of its extreme. resistance to being out thereby, be iorcedinwardl-yaand out of engagement with the saw elements-l:

While each saw element fiais'of a relatively short length, itwill be appreciated that. the total and also so as to enable ready replacement.

As has been previously noted herein, the disposal unit ll being mountedas described in the sink: 23,=it is adapted to receive water from the taps or other water supply with which thev sink is normally furnished throughjthe inlet aperture defined by the supporting member 2-2. During rotation of the hollow cylindrical or saw carrying member l3, such waten'or any other liquid introduced thereto, functions in its resultin swirling action to assist in, carrying the waste solids into position to be cut by the. saw elements. Also, on a principle similar to that of the'welh known centrifugal separation, the finely comminuted particles resulting from the sawing: ac.-

' tion being lighter in weight than the. soli.d-madisposal unit which is too. large. to pass through these apertures. The positioning of the apertures thinthe plate 4.1 has particular signifi- 'this relationship will determine the height to which liquid may rise along the inner peripheral Fig. 2, whereby any liquid introduced into the unit'will build up to' the point just described during rotation of the member l3 and any liquid in excess thereof will be discharged through the apertures 48. It will, of course, be understood that as soon as the motor M is turned off and the member It comes to rest, any liquid remaining therein will flow through the discharge apertures 48. 7 j

As has. previously been described,-= the main body portion 29 of the stationary member 27 is provided with a downwardly decreasingcross sectional area, i. e .,.the object-detaining surface 32 retaining the same configuration in all horizontal planes but sloping downwardly and outwardly from its upper portion. If this surface 32 were vertically disposed, solid material presented thereto would tend to receive only single cutting actions by'the several saw'elements d5 succes- 'sively directed thereagainst, and the tendency wouldbe for this solid material to beretained in such position against the surface 32, and it would only be moved therefrom by the action of other solid material introduced into the unit.

The abovedescribed downward sloping of the surface 3'2, however, results in any solid material directed thereagainst having a downward motion along suchisurface imparted to it, so that while such object. is detained against this surface it will move downwardly along it and receive a pluralityof cutting actions by each of the several saw elements.

Any solidmaterial introduced into the unit is thus gradually reduced in size, and the resulting comminuted particles will be floated inwardly by any liquid in the unit and carried by the excess liquid, as previously described, downwardly to the discharge apertures 4.8. If these particleshave not been reduced sufficiently in size to permit, their passage through the apertures 48, they will again be carried outwardly and upwardly by centrifugal force and the action of. any liquid in the unit to bereturned into'contacting relationship with the surface 32 ,of-the stationary member 2?. In order toinsure such particles being again presented to thesaw elements 4.6,1'10XflZ01lll2t1lY disposed grooves 53 are provided in the object-detaining; surface 32 in alignment with the several slots 3!, as shown in 'Eig. 5. These grooves. 53. channel the flow of liquid past; the stationary member 21, directing it through the slots 3|, so as to accomplish the desired result of causing the liquid to carry the insufficiently reduced particles into position in alignment with the slots 3i to be further out by the saw elements. To assist such action, the end portions of the several grooves 53 are rounded off or chamfered, both vertically and horizontally, as illustrated at 54 in Fig. 5. The relief groove or vertically disposed slot 5% additionally functions to trap any solid particles which are larger than the apertures 28 but small enough to pass through a slot 3i when its saw element 4% is not in the slot, so as to insure further sawing action thereon in the next passage through the slot SI of the associated saw element. Ehis will be better appreciated when it is understood that in the practical embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the apertures 48 are approximatel in diameter, the saw elements 45 are approximately 1%" thick, and the slots 3i have a vertical dimension or width of approximately The arrangement of the parts and shaping thereof as above described have been designed so as to increase to the maximum the number of incremental comminuting actions which will be given any particular piece of solid waste material, regardless of the specific physical characteristics of that piece of material. It will be appreciated, of course, that different types of solid waste material will react differently to the operation of the instant device, but the mechanism herein described has been found to satisfactorily reduce any type of solid material normally found in table waste. has resulted in extremely rapid disposal of any normal table waste introduced thereto, including bones, fruit rind, potato peelings and stringy material which other prior devices of a somewhat similar nature are unable to handle. At the same time, the instant unit is inherently of a self-cleaning nature, and the only thing that is necessary to accomplish a complete cleaning thereof is the introduction of a small amount of soap flakes or soap powder into the rotatable member i3. It will also be understood that, if desired, a removable grating may be placed in the inlet aperture defined by the supporting member 22.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A garbage disposal unit, comprising a hollow cylindrical member for receiving solid Waste material and liquid and mounted for rotation on a vertical axis, comminuting members disposed in vertically spaced relation interiorly of said cylindrical member, and rotatable means mounted below said comminuting members for imparting spaced inwardly from the outer periphery thereof so as to maintain a predetermined quantity of liquid in said cylindrical member during rotation thereof and comprising outlet means for any Operation of the instant unit liquid in excess of said predetermined quantity and for the comminuted solid waste material.

2. A garbage disposal unit, comprising :a hollow cylindrical member for receiving waste material to be disposed of and mounted for rotation on a vertical axis, comminuting members mounted interiorly of said cylindrical member in vertically spaced relationship, and a stationary member disposed interiorly of said cylindrical member with an outer vertical surface in substantial contact with the inner surface of the latter having horizontally disposed slots permitting passage of said comminuting members therethrough, said stationary member having a downwardly decreasing cross sectional area to provide a downwardly sloping surface adjacent the comminuting member entrance ends of said slots.

3. A garbage disposal unit, comprising a hollow cylindrical member for receiving waste material to be disposed of and liquid and mounted for rotation on a vertical axis, comminuting members mounted interiorly of said cylindrical member in vertically spacedrelationship, and a stationary member disposed interiorly of said cylindrical member with an outer vertical surface in substantial contact with the inner surface of the latter having horizontally disposed slots permitting passage of said comminuting members therethrough, said stationary member having a downwardly decreasing cross sectional area to provide a downwardly sloping surface adjacent the comminuting member entrance ends of said slots to detain solid matter in said waste material for comminuting action thereon, and said detaining surface being provided with horizontal- 1y disposed grooves for channeling liquid into said slots.

4. A garbage disposal unit, comprising a hollow cylindrical member for receiving waste material to be disposed of and liquid and mounted for rotation on a vertical axis, comminuting members mounted interiorly of said cylindrical member in vertically spaced relationship, and a stationary member disposed interiorly of said cylindrical member with an outer vertical surface in substantial contact with the inner surface of the latter having horizontally disposed slots permitting passage of said comminuting members therethrough, said stationary member having a downwardly decreasing cross sectional area to provide a downwardly sloping surface adjacent the comminuting member entrance ends of said slots to detain solid matter in said waste material for comminuting action thereon, said detaining surface being provided with horizontally disposed grooves for channeling liquid into said slots, and said hollow cylindrical member having a horizontally disposed bottom portion provided with apertures therethrough so disposed as to maintain a predetermined quantity of liquid in the cylindrical member during rotation thereof and comprising outlet means for any liquid in excess of said predetermined quantity and for the comminuted solid matter.

5. A garbage disposal unit, comprising a cylindrical member mounted for rotation and adapted to receive garbage to be disposed of and having imperforate side walls, comminuting members carried for rotation by said side walls and extending inwardly therefrom the same radial distance and spaced vertically from each other, and stationary comminuting members mounted interiorly of said cylindrical member in vertically spaced arrangement in conformity with'the spacing of, and for cooperating respecliquid from said water supply, a communitor,

conveyor means for delivering such solid waste material to said comminutor, and outlet apertures through said receiving means spaced in- "wardly from the outer periphery thereof so as to maintain liquid at a predetermined level therein during rotation of said receiving means and for discharging any liquid in excess thereof and the comminuted solid material and operable to drain said receiving means when the latter is stationary.

7. For use with a standard sink having the usual drain opening; a table waste disposal unit attachable to and supportable in depending re-' lationship from the sink in vertical alignment with the drain opening, comprising a stationary main casing, a hollow cylinder rotatably mounted in said casing and having an annular side wall,

a bottom wall and an open upper .end for receiving through the drain opening of the sink water and table Waste to be comminuted, said cylinder having outlet means adjacent its lower end, an electric motor for rotating said cylinder, cutting elements carried by said cylinderlin vertically and circumferentially spaced relationship relative to each other and extending inwardly from said side wall, and a stationary batlle supported by said casing and extending downwardly into said cylinder in close proximity to the inner surface of said side wall and outwardly of the inner portions of said cutting elements and having horizontally disposed slots opening toward said side wall to accommodate said cutting elements during rotation of the hollow cylinder.

8. For use with a standard sink having the usual drain opening; a table waste disposal unit attachable to the sink in vertical alignment with the drain opening, comprising a stationary main casing, a hollow cylinder rotatably mounted in said casingand having an annular side wall, a bottom wall and an open'upper end for receiving through the drain opening of the sink water and table waste to be comminuted, said cylinder having outlet means only adjacent its lower mar- V ginal edge, an electric motor for rotating said cylinder, a bottom plate mounted in the lower end of said'cylinder for rotation therewith in spaced relationship to said bottom wall and having a plurality of outlet apertures of predetermined size adjacent the center thereof to govern the flow of fluid from the interior of said cylinder to said outlet means, cutting elements carried by said cylinder in vertically spaced relationship relative to each other and extending inwardly from said side wall, and a stationary baffle supported by said casing and extending downwardly into said cylinder with its outer wall and lower end in close proximity, respectively, to the inner surface of said side wall and the l 10 upper surface of said bottom plate and having horizontally disposed slots opening toward said side Wall to provide clearance passages for said cutting elements during rotation of the hollow cylinder.

' 9. A table waste disposal unit, comprising a hollow cylinder mounted for axial rotation on a vertical axis and having its upper end open to receive, table waste and water, the lower end of said cylinder being provided With a plurality of relatively small outlet apertures spaced inwardly from the periphery thereof so as to maintain a certain amount of Water in the outer portion of the cylinder by centrifugal force during rotation thereof while enabling drainage therefrom of water in excess of such'certain amount and of all water when the cylinder is stationary, stationary comminutor means mounted interiorly of said cylinder in close proximity to the vertical wall thereof, and comminuting members carried by said vertical Wall in vertically spaced relation ship relative to each other for cooperation with said stationary comminutor means during rotation of said cylinder to reduce table waste introduced into the open upper end of the cylinder to particles of small enough size to pass through said outlet apertures with the water introduced into said cylinder in excess of said certain amount.

10. A garbage disposal unit for use in a sink having a water supply, comprising a hollow cylinder mounted for roattion with its annular side wall disposed vertically and having an open upper end for receiving solid waste material to be com minuted and liquid from said water supply, rotatable comminuting members carried by the annular side wall of said cylinder in vertically and circumferentially spaced relationship relative to each other .and extending inwardly from said side wall, stationary comminuting means disposed in close proximity to the inner surface of said annular side wall and having horizontally disposed slots opening toward said side wall to accommodate said rotatable comminuting members during rotation of the hollow cylinder,

, and a base member for said hollow cylinder having apertures spaced inwardly from said annular side wall to maintain liquid at a predetermined level in said hollow cylinder during I rotation thereof and for discharging any liquid in excess thereof and comminuted solid material, said apertures being operable to drain all liquid from said hollow cylinder when the latter is stationary.

MARTIN J. GREEN.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,012,680 I-Iammes Aug. 27, 1935 2,044,564 Carter June 16, 1936 2,133,756 Rodgers Oct. 18, 1938 2,148,922 Bachofner Feb. 28, 1939 2,156,075 Alexay Apr. 25, 1939 2,200,061 Green May 7, 1940 2,286,520 Tranbarger June16, 1942 2,302,138 Nicholson Nov. 17, 1942 2,399,153 Wormeck et al Apr. 23, 1946 

